System and method for communicating electronic messages over a telephone network using acoustical coupling

ABSTRACT

A system and method for communicating electronic messages between a remote device and a messaging server over telephone lines using acoustic coupling. Information is communicated between the remote device and the messaging server using acoustical tones corresponding to the information. The messaging server provides store-and-forward capability for messages received from external sources and which are then forwarded to the remote device. The remote device generates acoustical tones corresponding to information to be transmitted to the messaging server. The acoustical tones are transmitted to the messaging server over a telephone network which is acoustically coupled to the remote device. The messaging server performs processing based on information received from the remote device. The messaging server generates acoustical tones corresponding to information, including messages, to be transmitted to the remote device. These acoustical tones are transmitted by the messaging server over the telephone network and received by the remote device via the acoustic coupling between the remote device and the telephone network.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority from, and is a continuation-in-part ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/003,203, entitled "ELECTRONICCOMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM AND METHOD," filed Jan. 7, 1998, which in turn isa continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/588,165,entitled "ELECTRONIC MESSAGING SYSTEM AND METHOD," filed Jan. 18, 1996.The disclosures of both these applications are herein incorporated byreference for all purposes.

This application also claims priority from the following provisionalapplications, the disclosures of which are herein incorporated byreference for all purposes:

1. U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/100,458 entitled"ELECTRONIC MESSAGING SYSTEM," filed Sep. 15, 1998; and

2. U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/102,834, entitled"ELECTRONIC MESSAGING SYSTEM," filed Oct. 2, 1998.

The following applications, including this one, are being filedconcurrently, and the disclosure of each other application is hereinincorporated by reference for all purposes:

U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/219,109, (Attorney Docket No.19185-000100US) entitled "MESSAGING COMMUNICATION PROTOCOL";

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/219,228, (Attorney Docket No.19185-000200US) entitled "SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR REMOTELY CONTROLLINGMESSAGING SERVER FUNCTIONALITY";

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/218,973, (Attorney Docket No.19185-000300US) entitled "SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR COMPRESSION ANDDECOMPRESSION OF ELECTRONIC MAIL MESSAGES";

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/218,911, (Attorney Docket No.19185-000400US) entitled "SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR COMMUNICATING ELECTRONICMESSAGES OVER A TELEPHONE NETWORK USING ACOUSTICAL COUPLING";

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/218,932, (Attorney Docket No.19185-000500US) entitled "SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROCESSING ELECTRONICMAIL MESSAGES"; and

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/219,082, (Attorney Docket No.19185-000600US) entitled "SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ENHANCING MODEMPERFORMANCE USING DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING TECHNIQUES."

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to communicating informationover a telephone network and more particularly to a system and methodfor communicating electronic messages over a telephone network between amessaging server and at least one remote device acoustically coupled toa telephone connected to the telephone network.

Prior to the proliferation of computers, people communicated with eachother primarily through the use of letters, telephones and/orfacsimiles. However, in recent years, with the widespread use ofcomputers, an expanding telephone network, and the rising popularity ofthe Internet, an increasing number of people are resorting to electronicmessaging as a mode of communication for both business and personal use.Examples of electronic messaging include the use of electronic mail(E-mail), electronic facsimiles, and various wireless services such aspagers and cellular phones.

Among the electronic messaging services stated above, the use of E-mailhas seen the sharpest growth over the past few years. This is becauseE-mail provides a easy, expedient and efficient mechanism for exchanginginformation irrespective of the sender or receiver's geographicallocation. The use of E-mail has been further bolstered by Internetservice providers (ISPs), such as America Online and AT&T WorldNet andInternet E-mail services such as Yahoo and Hotmail, who provide freeE-mail accounts to Internet users. Thus, users who have an Internetaccount, a modem, and a computer to communicate information with eachother, can at a minimal expense exchange information regardless of eachparty's geographic location or method of accessing the Internet.

The advent of portable computers such as laptops and personal dataassistants (PDAs) has further increased the popularity of electronicmessaging as a mode of communication. People can now carry computerswith them wherever they go and can remotely access their E-mail accountsfrom any location from where a connection can be established to theInternet or to a telephone network via a modem. Advances in wirelesstechnologies have further enhanced accessibility to electronicinformation. In many instances portable computers are also equipped withtransceivers which allow users subscribing to wireless service providersto remotely access E-mail via a wireless communication link.

As discussed above, in order to remotely access electronic messages viaconventional devices, a connection generally has to be established witha communication network. This is usually accomplished by connecting tothe Internet or to some other communication network using a modem oralternatively by using wireless services. These conventional methods ofconnecting to a communication network have limited capabilities whichmay restrict a user's access to electronic information. For instance, amodem generally has to be connected to a phone line via a phone jack,typically a RJ-11 phone jack. However phone jack connections may not bereadily available at all geographical locations. For example, a persontraveling in an airplane generally does not have access to a phone jack,even though access to a public phone or a cellular phone is available.

Wireless services, such as cellular phone services, to a certain extent,have been successful in overcoming some of the problems associated withthe need to locate phone jack connections. However, wireless servicesare often very expensive as they communicate over expensive wirelesscommunication systems rather than inexpensive switched land-basedtelephone networks. Further, wireless services are often limited bytheir coverage areas. For example, paging networks and cellular networksare limited by the range of their transmitters. Additionally, wirelesscommunication devices generally have high power consumption which leadsto very short battery life and consequently high maintenance costs forthe communication device.

Thus, there is a need for an electronic messaging system which willallow users to remotely access electronic messages, such as E-mail andelectronic facsimile messages, without having to rely on theavailability of phone jack connections or having to incur the costsassociated with wireless service providers. Further, it would bedesirable if the messaging system is inexpensive, portable, easy to use,has low maintenance and communication costs, and provides reliablecommunication of information. It is also desirable that the coveragearea of the messaging system be at least comparable to that of existingtelephone networks.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a system and method for communicatingelectronic messages between a remote device and a messaging server overtelephone lines using acoustic coupling. Information is communicatedbetween the remote device and the messaging server using acousticaltones. In a specific embodiment, the remote device generates acousticaltones corresponding to information to be transmitted to the messagingserver. The information in the form of acoustical tones is transmittedto the messaging server over a telephone network via an acousticalcoupling between the remote device and a telephone coupled to thetelephone network. The messaging server performs processing based oninformation received from the remote device, and generates acousticaltones corresponding to information, including electronic messages, to betransmitted to the remote device. These acoustical tones are transmittedto the remote device over a telephone network and received by the remotedevice via the acoustical coupling between the remote device and thetelephone network. Messages retrieved from the acoustical tones can thenbe accessed by the user of the remote device.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a remote device userinitiates a connection to the messaging server by dialing into themessaging server using a phone. The remote device may then beacoustically coupled to the phone and initialization information may betransmitted to the messaging server via the acoustical coupling. Themessaging server uses the initialization information to authenticate theremote device. A session is established between the remote device andthe messaging server if the authentication is successful, otherwise theconnection between the remote device and the messaging server isterminated. In one embodiment, a message may be sent to the remotedevice indicating unsuccessful authentication.

According to another aspect of the present invention, informationtransmitted from the remote device to the messaging server includescommands or instructions to be processed by the messaging server. Themessaging server receives the commands, performs substantially all theprocessing required to satisfy the commands, prepares responses to thecommands, and transmits the responses back to the remote device.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, informationtransmitted from the remote device to the messaging server includesmessages to be distributed to recipients specified by the addresseefields of the messages. These messages may include facsimile messageswhich are faxed to the recipients and E-mail messages which are routedto the recipients via a communication link such as the Internet.Information transmitted to the messaging server may also include userpreference information.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, informationtransmitted from the messaging server to the remote device includesmessages received by the messaging server and addressed to the user ofthe remote device. The messages transmitted to the remote device canthen be viewed or accessed by the user of the remote device.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the messagingserver provides store-and-forward capability for messages received fromexternal sources, such as the Internet, and addressed to users of themessaging system. Based on the addressee information of the receivedmessage, the messaging server determines the remote device to which themessage is to be transmitted. The message may then be transmitted to theparticular remote device when the remote device establishes acommunication session with the messaging server.

Specific embodiment of the present invention present several advantagesover conventional messaging systems. For example, the messaging systemaccording to the present invention obviates the need for phone jackconnections or subscriptions to wireless services to send or receiveelectronic messages. Users may access electronic messages by placing aphone call to the messaging server using an ordinary phone overconventional telephone networks. The present invention may also minimizethe amount of time needed to transfer information between remote devicesand the messaging server, thus providing an inexpensive and easymechanism for users to access electronic information. Specificembodiments of the remote device have low power consumption resulting inlonger battery life and reduced maintenance costs. Several otheradvantages of the present invention may be realized by reference to theremaining portions of the specification and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Additional objects and features of the invention will be more readilyapparent from the following detailed description and appended claimswhen taken in conjunction with the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 depicts a high-level block diagram showing components of amessaging system embodying the present invention.

FIG. 2 depicts a block diagram of a remote device according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 depicts a block diagram of a messaging server according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 4a and 4b depict flowcharts showing steps performed by the remotedevice and the messaging server for exchanging information according toan embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 depicts a flowchart illustrating functions performed by themessaging server for processing messages received via the Internetaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS

The present invention discloses a system and method for communicatingelectronic messages over a telephone network between a messaging serverand at least one remote device which is acoustically coupled to atelephone connected with the telephone network. The electronic messagesmay include E-mail messages, facsimile messages or pager messages.

FIG. 1 depicts a high-level block diagram showing components ofmessaging system 10 embodying the present invention. As shown, messagingsystem 10 comprises a number of remote devices 12a-12c acousticallycoupled to telephones 14a-14c which are connected to telephone network16, which in turn is coupled to messaging server 18. Telephone network16 typically includes telephone lines, but may also include a variety ofother communication links such as cellular links, private branchexchange (PBX) links, or Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN)links. Messaging server 18 may also be coupled to Internet 20 and toother external accessors 22 such as Post Office Protocol (POP3) clients,or Internet service providers.

Messaging system 10 enables remote devices 12a-12c to access E-mailmessages addressed to users of the remote devices and which have beenreceived and stored by messaging server 18. Remote devices 12a-12c mayalso send electronic messages to messaging server 18 for distribution torecipients indicated by the addressee field of the messages.

In a specific embodiment, messaging system 10 may be based on aclient-server architecture with messaging server 18 acting as a serverand remote devices 12a-12c acting as clients. Messaging server 18receives processing requests from remote devices 12a-12c, performssubstantially all the processing necessary to satisfy the requests,formulates responses to the requests, and provides these responses toremote devices 12a-12c. It should be apparent to those or ordinary skillin the art that the scope of the present invention is not limited to aclient-server architecture, and that other configurations are alsoencompassed with the scope of the present invention.

Messaging server 18 and remote device 12 communicate messaginginformation with each other when a user of remote device 12 initiates aconnection to messaging server 18 and a session is established betweenremote device 12 and messaging server 18. A connection to messagingserver 18 is generally initiated when a user of remote device 12initiates a telephone call by manually dialing in to messaging server18. Before a session may be established, messaging server 18 may performauthentication of remote device 12 to determine if remote device 12 isauthorized to establish a session with messaging server 18. A session isestablished if remote device 12 authentication is successful, else theconnection between remote device 12 and messaging server 18 isterminated. In one embodiment, a message may be sent to remote device 12indicating unsuccessful authentication.

Information is communicated between remote device 12 and messagingserver 18 using acoustical tones. Remote device 12 generates acousticaltones which encapsulate information to be transmitted from remote device12 to messaging server 18. To facilitate transmission of the acousticaltones over telephone network 16, remote device 12 is acousticallycoupled with the handset receiver of telephone 14. The acoustical tonesmay be transmitted to messaging server 18 over telephone network 16 viathe acoustical coupling between remote device 12 and telephone 14.Messaging server 18 interprets the acoustical tones received from remotedevice 12 and may perform processing requested by remote device 12.Messaging server 18 communicates with remote device 12 by generatingacoustical tones corresponding to messaging information to betransmitted to remote device 12. The acoustical tones are transmitted toremote device 12 via telephone network 16 and received by the remotedevice via the acoustical coupling between remote device 12 and thetelephone 14. After information exchanges have been completed, theconnection session between remote device 12 and messaging server 18 isterminated.

Messaging server 18 and remote device 12 may employ several networkprotocol techniques, error correction/detection techniques, and digitalsignal processing (DSP) techniques to ensure reliability of messaginginformation communicated between remote device 12 and messaging server18. For details about these techniques, please refer to co-pending U.S.patent application Ser. No. 09/219,109, (Attorney Docket No.19185-000100US) entitled "MESSAGING COMMUNICATION PROTOCOL," U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 09/218,973, (Attorney Docket No. 19185-000300US)entitled "SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR COMPRESSION AND DECOMPRESSION OFELECTRONIC MAIL MESSAGES," and U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/219,082, (Attorney Docket No. 19185-000600US) entitled "SYSTEM ANDMETHOD FOR ENHANCING MODEM PERFORMANCE USING DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSINGTECHNIQUES" filed concurrently with the present application and owned bya common assignee.

FIG. 2 depicts one embodiment of remote device 12. As shown, remotedevice 12 includes at least one processor 24 which communicates with anumber of subsystems via bus subsystem 26. These subsystems typicallyinclude a storage subsystem 28 comprising memory subsystem 30 and filestorage subsystem 32, user interface input and output devices 40, acommunication subsystem 38 including speaker 46 and microphone 44, and apower subsystem 42. Remote device 12 may be a data processing devicewhich generally can operate independent of the messaging server 22.Examples of remote devices include desktop computers, PDAs, laptops, andseveral other hand-held or portable devices.

Bus subsystem 26 provides a mechanism for allowing the variouscomponents and subsystems of remote device 12 communicate with eachother as intended. Bus subsystem 26 is shown schematically as a singlebus, but a typical system may have a number of buses such as a local busand one or more expansion buses, as well as serial and parallel ports.

User interface input devices typically include a keyboard, a scanner, amouse, a trackball, a touchpad, a graphics tablet, a touchscreenincorporated into the display, a joystick, or any other devices forinputting information. Other types of user interface input devices, suchas voice recognition systems, are also possible. In a portable hand-heldremote device embodiment, user interface devices typically include akeyboard, a mouse or a touchscreen.

User interface output devices typically include a display subsystem,which includes a display controller and a display device coupled to thecontroller. The display device may be a cathode ray tube (CRT), aflat-panel device such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), or aprojection device. The display subsystem may also provide non-visualdisplay such as audio output. In a portable hand-held remote deviceembodiment, the user interface output device is typically a LCD displaywith an electroluminescent (EL) backlight which allows the LCD to beviewed easily during low light conditions.

Memory subsystem 30 stores the various data constructs and programmingmodules that provide the functionality of remote device 12. Memorysubsystem 30 may typically include a number of memories including a mainrandom access memory (RAM) 34 for storage of instructions and dataduring program execution, and a read only memory (ROM) 36 in which fixedinstructions are stored. In a specific embodiment, ROM 36 stores deviceidentification information which uniquely identifies the particularremote device.

File storage subsystem 32 provides persistent (non-volatile) storage forprogram and data files, and may include one or more hard disk drives andone or more floppy disk drives (with associated removable media).

Communication subsystem 38 facilitates the acoustical coupling betweenremote device 12 and phone 14. Communication subsystem 38 is alsoresponsible for facilitating communication of information between remotedevice 12 and messaging server 18. Communication subsystem 38 generatesacoustical tones which encapsulate information to be transmitted tomessaging server 18. Additionally, communication subsystem 38 retrievesinformation from acoustical tones generated by messaging server 18 andtransmitted to remote device 12. Communication subsystem 38 includesspeaker 46 and microphone 44 which facilitate acoustical couplingbetween remote device 12 and telephone handset 52 of phone 14. In aspecific embodiment, speaker 46 is acoustically coupled to mouthpiece 50of telephone handset 52 and transmits acoustical tones generated byremote device 12 to messaging server 18 via telephone network 16.Likewise, microphone 44 is acoustically coupled to earpiece 48 ofhandset 52 and receives acoustical tones transmitted by messaging server18. Speaker 46 and microphone 44 are adjustable to facilitate couplingwith handsets of different shapes and sizes.

Power subsystem 42 provides power to the various subsystems of remotedevice 12. In a portable hand-held embodiment of remote device 12, powersubsystem 42 may typically include one or more alkaline batteries. A lowbattery indicator may also be provided.

FIG. 3 depicts a block diagram of messaging server 18 which may becoupled with remote device 12 via telephone network 16. Messaging server18 comprises a processor 80, storage subsystem 62 including a memorysubsystem 64 and file storage subsystem 66, and one or more servers andsubsystems coupled to each other via a backbone network or bus subsystem60, such as an Ethernet network. Backbone network 60 provides amechanism for allowing the various components and subsystems ofmessaging server 18 communicate with each other as intended. Thesubsystems and servers may include a network interface subsystem 82, aninformation processing subsystem 88, a mail processing subsystem 92, amessage dispatcher subsystem 90, and a facsimile processing subsystem 84optionally coupled to facsimile machine 86. Messaging server 18 may alsooptionally include a POP3 server 96, a domain network server (DNS) 98and a WEB server 100. Each of these servers and subsystems will now bedescribed in more detail.

Storage subsystem 62 stores the various data constructs and programmingmodules that provide the functionality of messaging server 18. Memorysubsystem 64 typically includes a number of memories including a mainrandom access memory (RAM) 70 for storage of instructions and dataduring program execution and a read only memory (ROM) 68 in which fixedinstructions are stored.

File storage subsystem 66 provides persistent (non-volatile) storage forprogram and data files, and typically includes at least one hard diskdrive and at least one floppy disk drive (with associated removablemedia). File storage subsystem 66 may also include other types oftangible media such as CD-ROM drives, optical storage media, removablemedia cartridges, and the like. One or more of the drives may be locatedat a remote location, such as in a server on a local area network or ata site accessible via the Internet. File storage subsystem 66 provides arepository for storing various databases and files used by messagingserver 18 such as mailspool database 76 for each remote device, amailstore database 72 for each remote device, a remote device userdatabase 74, and an authentication database 78.

In one embodiment, a mailspool database is maintained for each remotedevice of messaging system 10. The mailspool database stores messagesreceived by messaging server via Internet 20 addressed to a user of theremote device. Typically, each message is indexed by a unique messageidentifier. The mailspool database provides a mechanism which allowsexternal users, for example POP3 clients, to access messages stored bymessaging server 18.

In one embodiment, a mailstore database is maintained for each remotedevice and typically contains messages addressed to remote device 12.The mailstore database may also store information related to messageindices, and status flags associated with the messages, including statusflags indicating whether a message has been transmitted to remote device12. The messages stored in the mailstore database are generallysynchronized with the messages stored in the mailspool database. In oneembodiment, the messages are stripped off their MIME, HTML and redundanttext contents before being stored in the mailstore database. Typically,the messages are indexed by the unique message identifier associatedwith each message.

In one embodiment, user database 74 stores preferences and otherconfiguration parameters for each remote device 12. Authenticationdatabase 78 stores information needed for authentication of remotedevice 12 during session setup time. The information stored in theauthentication database may include a list of remote device identifiersidentifying remote devices which are authorized to communicate withmessaging server 18. A listing of E-mail addresses of the users of theremote devices may also be stored in the authentication database. Thislisting may be used by the messaging server to verify if addressees ofinbound messages received by the messaging server via the Internet areactually remote device users. In one embodiment, authentication database78 may store a list of E-mail addresses for remote device users andtheir associated remote device identifiers. The E-mail address to remotedevice identifier mapping may be used to determine the recipient remotedevice.

Network interface subsystem 82 is responsible for receiving messaginginformation transmitted by remote device 12 and for transmittingmessaging information from messaging server 18 to remote device 12 viatelephone network 16. In a specific embodiment, network interfacesubsystem 82 may include a modem and one or more digital signalprocessing (DSP) modules. Network interface subsystem 82 receivesacoustical tones transmitted by remote device 12 and converts the tonesto digital information which is then made available to the othersubsystems of messaging server 18 for further processing. Networkinterface subsystem 82 may also convert digital information to betransmitted to remote device 12 to analog acoustical signals. Inalternate embodiments, network interface subsystem 82 may also beconfigured to receive analog signals or digitized analog samples indiscrete time domain encapsulating information transmitted by remotedevice 12. Network interface subsystem 82 may also be configured tomonitor of the amount of information, including messages, received fromor transmitted to remote device 12.

In a specific embodiment, the DSP modules in combination with the modememploy several network protocol techniques, error correction/detectiontechniques, and digital signal processing (DSP) techniques to ensurereliability of messaging information communicated between remote device12 and messaging server 18. For details about these techniques, pleaserefer to co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/219,109,(Attorney Docket No. 19185-000100US) entitled "MESSAGING COMMUNICATIONPROTOCOL," U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/218,973, (Attorney DocketNo. 19185-000300US) entitled "SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR COMPRESSION ANDDECOMPRESSION OF ELECTRONIC MAIL MESSAGES," and U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 09/219,082, (Attorney Docket No. 19185-000600US) entitled"SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ENHANCING MODEM PERFORMANCE USING DIGITAL SIGNALPROCESSING TECHNIQUES" filed concurrently with the present applicationand owned by a common assignee.

Information processing subsystem 88 is responsible for performingsubstantially all the processing performed by messaging server 18. In aspecific embodiment, information processing subsystem 88 acts as amanager for information and data transmitted to and from messagingserver 18. In a specific embodiment, tasks performed by informationprocessing subsystem 88 include but are not limited to: receivingprocessing requests from the remote devices, performing substantiallyall the processing necessary to satisfy the remote device requests,formulating responses to the requests, determining messages to betransmitted to remote device 12, and transmitting the messages andresponses to remote device 12.

Information processing subsystem 88 may also be configured toauthenticate remote device 12 when the remote device attempts toestablish a session with messaging server 18. In a specific embodiment,authentication is based on remote device identification informationtransmitted by remote device 12 and which uniquely identifies remotedevice 12. Information processing subsystem 88 accesses authenticationdatabase 78 to determine whether the requesting remote device, asidentified by the remote device identification information, isauthorized to establish a session with messaging server 18. The remotedevice connection is terminated if the remote device is not authorizedto establish a session with messaging server 18. In one embodiment, anE-mail message is sent to the unauthorized remote device user indicatingauthentication failure.

Information processing subsystem 88 may also be configured to determinecompression techniques to be used for compression of information beforeit is transmitted to remote device 12. Selection of a particularcompression technique is generally based on remote device informationreceived from the remote device. The compression technique is selectedso as to maximize the efficiency of data transfer between remote device12 and messaging server 18. In a specific embodiment, informationprocessing subsystem 88 may also process messages received via Internet20 or from external users 22 and prepare these messages for transmissionto remote device 12 upon the next session with remote device 12.Information processing subsystem 88 may also update the variousdatabases stored in storage subsystem 62.

Message dispatcher subsystem 90 may be configured to process outboundmessages including electronic mail messages to be transmitted viaInternet 20 and facsimile messages to be transmitted via facsimileprocessing subsystem 84. Message dispatcher subsystem 90 determineswhether a particular message is an electronic mail message or afacsimile message and accordingly forwards the message to mailprocessing subsystem 92, or to facsimile processing subsystem 84,respectively, for further processing.

Mail processing subsystem 92 is generally responsible for processingmessages received from external sources via Internet 20 and fordistributing E-mail messages from messaging server 18 to theirrecipients via Internet 20. Tasks performed by mail processing subsystem92 include but are not limited to: determining the remote device towhich a message is to be transmitted based on the addressee field of themessage, writing messages received by messaging server 18 to mailspooldatabase 76, stripping messages off their MIME, HTML, and redundant textcontent, writing the stripped messages to mailstore database 72,receiving from message dispatcher 90 E-mail messages to be distributedvia Internet 20 and distributing the messages.

Facsimile processing subsystem 84 is responsible for processingfacsimile messages to be distributed to external recipients. Facsimileprocessing subsystem 84 formats facsimile messages into a format whichis compatible with commercial facsimile machines software. Facsimileprocessing subsystem 84 may then either store the formatted facsimilemessages in storage subsystem 62 from where the messages may be accessedby facsimile subsystem 86, or alternatively, may forward them directlyto facsimile subsystem 86. Facsimile subsystem 86 includes facsimilesoftware and facsimile modem and facilitates faxing of facsimilemessages to their recipients via telephone network 16.

POP3 server 96 is a standard server implementing the Post OfficeProtocol (POP) and allows POP3 clients 22-b to access electronic mailmessages stored by messaging server 18 in storage subsystem 62.

Messaging server 18 may also optionally include a Domain Network Server(DNS) 98 and a WEB Server 100 which allow users of messaging system 10to access messaging server 18 via a web page. Web access allowssubscribers to perform a variety of tasks such as setting/modifying userpreferences, setting/modifying connection configuration parameters, andeven checking account related information. This information is usuallystored in storage subsystem 62 in user database 74 or authenticationdatabase 78. DNS server 98 allows messaging server 18 to communicatewith other network nodes by mapping machine names to Internet addressesand vice versa.

FIGS. 4a and 4b are flowcharts depicting the sequence of functions oroperations executed by remote device 12 and messaging server 18 forcommunicating information between each other. At step 110, remote device(RD) 12 initiates a connection with messaging server (MS) 18. Thisusually occurs when a user of remote device 12 initiates a telephonecall by manually dialing in to messaging server 18 using an appropriatetelephone number and requests a session to be established between remotedevice 12 and messaging server 18. Optionally, messaging server 18 mayanswer the remote device's call request with an audio greeting.

Data exchange between remote device 12 and messaging server 18 ishalf-duplex, implying that either remote device 12 or messaging server18 is transmitting on the connection at a given time. As describedearlier, information transmitted from remote device 12 to messagingserver 18 is encapsulated in acoustical tones generated by communicationsubsystem 38 of remote device 12. The acoustical tones are transmittedvia the acoustic coupling between speaker 46 of remote device 12 andtelephone handset 52 to telephone network 16. The acoustical analogsignals are then transmitted via telephone network 16 to messagingserver 18.

In a specific embodiment, information transmitted by remote device 12 tomessaging server 18 during the first phase of the call includes apreamble frame containing information identifying remote device 12.Typically, information contained in the preamble frame includes remotedevice identification information, remote device configurationinformation, and various other session related parameters. In general,information contained in the preamble frame enables messaging server 18to determine: whether a session is permitted to continue betweenmessaging server 18 and the requesting remote device, access orpermission rights for the remote device, encoding/decoding schemes to beused for communicating with the remote device, andcompression/decompression schemes to be used for communicating with theremote device. Details of the preamble frame are described in co-pendinga U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/219,109, (Attorney Docket No.19185-000100US) entitled "MESSAGING COMMUNICATION PROTOCOL" filedconcurrently with the present application and owned by a commonassignee.

At step 112, messaging server 18 receives and interprets the acousticaltones transmitted by remote device 12 that is requesting a session withmessaging server 18. In a specific embodiment, network interfacesubsystem 82 of messaging server 18 receives the acoustical tones viatelephone network 16. The modem and DSP modules within network interfacesubsystem 82 convert the analog acoustical tones to digital informationwhich is then provided to the various subsystems and processors ofmessaging server 18 for further processing.

In one embodiment of the present invention, an acknowledgment is sent bymessaging server 18 to remote device 12 indicating that messaging server18 has received the preamble information. Upon receiving thisacknowledgment, at step 122, remote device 12 transmits information tomessaging server 18. In a specific embodiment, remote device 12 queuesup information to be transmitted to messaging server 18 and the queuedup information is then transmitted to messaging server 18 in the form ofacoustical tones generated by communication subsystem 38. Thisinformation is processed by messaging server 18 after successfulauthentication of remote device 12. After the information has beentransmitted, remote device 12 sends a message to messaging server 18indicating information transfer from remote device 12 has been completedand that remote device 12 is now ready to receive information frommessaging server 18. Messaging information transmitted to messagingserver 18 may include messages to be sent to recipients generallyindicated by the "addressee" field of the message, remote deviceconfiguration or preference information, and/or messaginginstructions/commands to be processed by messaging server 18. Aspreviously stated, various error detection/correction techniques anddata modulation techniques are used by messaging server 18 to ensurereliability of data received from remote device 12.

At step 114, messaging server 18 performs authentication to determine ifremote device 12 is permitted to establish a session with messagingserver 18. In a specific embodiment, messaging server 18 checksauthentication database 78 to determine if the remote device isauthorized to establish a session with messaging server 18.Authentication database 78 generally stores information on users ofmessaging system 10. In a specific embodiment, authentication is basedon the remote device identification information which is included in thepreamble frame transmitted by remote device 12 and which uniquelyidentifies the remote device requesting the connection. However, inother embodiments, several other criteria such as a user specificpassword, or user accounting status, or user privileges, etc., may beused for authentication purposes. At step 116, messaging server 18determines if remote device 12 has been successfully authenticated. Ifauthentication of remote device 12 is unsuccessful, the connectionbetween remote device 12 and messaging server 18 is terminated. In oneembodiment, an E-mail message is sent to the user of the remote deviceindicating failure of authentication. If authentication is successful,messaging server proceeds with processing information transmitted byremote device 12, as indicated in step 124.

At step 124, messaging server 18 performs substantially all theprocessing necessary to satisfy the command/instructions received fromremote device 12 and determines messages to be transmitted to the remotedevice. Messaging server 18 formulates responses to remote devicerequests, and queues up the responses in preparation for transmission toremote device 12. In a specific embodiment, processing is primarilyperformed by information processing subsystem 88. Using the remotedevice identification information, information processing subsystem 88accesses mailstore database 72 to determine messages addressed to theremote device user and which have not been transmitted to the connectedremote device. These messages are also queued up for transmission toremote device 12.

At step 126, the queued up information is transmitted by messagingserver 18 to remote device 12 via telephone network 16. In a specificembodiment, network interface subsystem 82 is responsible fortransmitting information from messaging server 18 to remote device 12.Information processing subsystem 88 forwards the queued up digitalinformation to network interface subsystem 82, which then generatesanalog acoustical tones corresponding to the digital information. Theacoustical tones are then transmitted via telephone network 16 to remotedevice 12.

At step 128, remote device 12 receives information in the form ofacoustical tones transmitted by messaging server 18. The acousticaltones are received by remote device 12 via the acoustic coupling betweenmicrophone 44 of remote device 12 and telephone earpiece 48.Communication subsystem 38 retrieves information from the acousticaltones by converting the tones to digital information. After informationhas been received by remote device, the session between remote device 12and messaging server 18 may be terminated, at step 130.

After the session between remote device 12 and messaging server 18 hasbeen terminated messaging server 18 proceeds to process distribution ofmessages downloaded from remote device 12. This processing is generallydone after the session has been terminated to reduce the amount ofconnection time between remote device 12 and messaging server 18. Thisreduction in connection time directly translates to reducedtelecommunication related costs for the user of remote device 12.

At step 132, information processing subsystem 88 updates the variousfiles and logs associated with messaging system 10 and which aregenerally stored on storage subsystem 62. Information processingsubsystem 88 retrieves from network interface subsystem 82 informationwhether indicating messages which were successfully transmitted toremote device 12. Messages which were not transferred to remote device12, possibly due to problems associated with the connection betweenremote device 12 and messaging server 18, are tagged accordingly inmailstore database 72. These messages will be queued up for transmissionduring the next connection between that particular remote device andmessaging server 18. Messages which were successfully transmitted arealso marked accordingly in mailstore database 72. Information processingsubsystem 88 may also update user profiles and preferences which arestored in user database 74.

At step 134, information processing subsystem 88 determines if there areany outbound facsimile or E-mail messages received from remote device 12which are to be sent to recipients as indicated by the "addressee" fieldof the messages. If there are no outbound messages, the messaging serverprocessing ends, else processing continues with step 136.

At step 136, information processing subsystem 88 forwards the messagesto message dispatcher subsystem 90 which determines whether a particularmessage is a facsimile message or an E-mail message at steps 142 and140, respectively. Message dispatcher 90 forwards facsimile messages tofacsimile processing subsystem 84, at step 144, and forwards E-mailmessages to mail processing subsystem 92, at step 150.

At step 146, facsimile processing subsystem 84 formats the facsimilemessages into a format which is compatible with commercial facsimilemachines software. Examples of formatting performed by facsimileprocessing subsystem 84 include but are not limited to: performing wordwrapping on the message text, and superimposing text fields such as"FROM," "TO," etc. on the message text. The formatted facsimile messagesare then stored on storage subsystem 62 in a location where they may beaccessed by facsimile subsystem 86. Alternatively, formatted facsimilemessages may be directly forwarded to facsimile subsystem 86 for faxing.At step 148, facsimile subsystem 86 faxes the facsimile messages totheir recipients via telephone network 16. At step 152, mail processingsubsystem 92 routes the E-mail messages to the recipients indicated bythe "addressee" information of the message. This routing is generallydone via Internet 20.

FIG. 5 depicts steps executed by messaging server 18 for processingmessages received by messaging server 18 via Internet 20 or otherexternal sources. At step 160, messages arrive at mail processingsubsystem 92 via Internet 20 or other external sources. In oneembodiment, at step 162, mail processing subsystem 92 determines theremote device to which the message is to be transmitted by translatingthe addressee information of each message to its corresponding remotedevice identification information. The addressee information to remotedevice identification information is facilitated by the remote deviceuser E-mail address to remote device identifier mapping stored inauthentication database 78. As previously stated, this mapping stores alist of E-mail addresses for the users of the remote devices andassociated remote device identifiers corresponding to the remote deviceused by the users. In a specific embodiment, one or more E-mailaddresses may be mapped to a common remote device identifier, indicatingthat the remote device is shared by more than one user. In otherembodiments, the mapping information may also contain additionalinformation to facilitate processing of incoming messages. While themapping information is typically stored in authentication database 78,in other embodiments the mapping information may be stored on storagesubsystem 62 or may alternatively be stored locally by mail processingsubsystem 92. In a specific embodiment, the mapping information isperiodically updated as new users subscribe to services offered bymessaging system 10.

In a specific embodiment, mail processing subsystem 92 extractsaddressee information from the inbound mail message and then queriesauthentication database 78. If the queried addressee is found inauthentication database 78, the query returns the remote deviceidentifier corresponding to the addressee, else a message indicatingthat the address was not found is returned to mail processing subsystem92. If the address is not found in authentication database 78, theE-mail message containing the address is bounced back to the sender withthe notification that the E-mail message was undeliverable. If the queryreturns with a remote identifier for the address, the process continueswith step 164. In alternate embodiments where the remote device may beidentified using other criteria, such as user name or user E-mailaddress, the translation step may not be needed.

At step 164, mail processing subsystem 92 may perform filtering ofmessages based on user preferences and rules stored in user database 74.Filtering may be performed on various aspects of a message such as thename of the sender, the name of the recipient, the subject title of themessage, or the size of the message. It should be apparent that othercriteria may also be used for filtering purposes. Several types offiltering schemes may be supported, such as accepting messages thatsatisfy a filter criterion, or alternatively discarding messages thatmeet a filter criterion. These filtering preferences may be set ormodified via commands transmitted from remote device 12. Alternatively,a user may also set or modify preferences via WEB server 100.

After the messages have been filtered, at step 166, the messages arewritten to the mailspool database for the remote device. Each message isassigned a unique identifier which uniquely identifies the message onmessaging server 18. The unique identifier is used for indexing messagesin the mailspool database.

At step 168, mail processing subsystem 92 writes the messages to themailstore database 72 for the remote device. Messages in mailstoredatabase are usually indexed based on the unique identifier associatedwith each message in mailspool database 76. In a specific embodiment,before a message is written to mailstore database 72, mail processingsubsystem 92 removes MIME content, HTML contents and redundant contentsfrom the text of the message. Redundant contents typically include textitems which have been sequentially repeated for more than a thresholdnumber of times. For example, in one embodiment where the repetitionthreshold value is set to three, a "- - - - - -" is reduced to "- - -"before the message is written to mailstore database 72. Messagestripping is performed to reduce the size of messages to be transmittedto remote device 12. A smaller message size reduces the amount of timerequired to transmit the message from messaging server 18 to remotedevice 12. This directly translates to reduced telecommunication relatedcosts for the user of remote device 12. However, in alternateembodiments where high speed transfer communication links are used,stripping of messages may not be required. These messages are thenqueued for transmission to remote device 12 upon the next connection toremote device 12, as indicated by step 124 in FIG. 4a and describedabove.

Conclusion

A system and method are disclosed for communicating electronic messagesbetween a remote device and a messaging server over telephone linesusing acoustic coupling. The messaging server provides store-and-forwardcapability by storing electronic messages received via Internet 20 orother external sources. The stored messages are then communicated toremote device 12 when remote device 12 establishes a session withmessaging server 18.

In a specific embodiment, remote device 12 initiates a connection tomessaging server 18 by dialing into the messaging server using a phone.After messaging server 18 has successfully authenticated the remotedevice, a session is established between remote device 12 and messagingserver 18 wherein information is transferred between remote device 12and messaging server 18 in the form of acoustical tones over a telephonenetwork acoustically coupled to remote device 12.

Although specific embodiments of the invention have been described,various modifications, alterations, alternative constructions, andequivalents are also encompassed within the scope of this application.For example, the described invention is not restricted to operationwithin certain specified computer environments, but is free to operatewithin a plurality of computer environments. Thus, while messagingserver 18 has been described using specific subsystems, the functionsperformed by messaging server 18 may be performed by other subsystems,processors or may even be deployed on separate systems. Likewise thefunctions performed by remote device 12 may be performed by othersubsystems or processors. Additionally, although the present inventionhas been described using a particular series of transactions betweenremote device 12 and messaging server 18, it should be apparent to thoseskilled in the art that the scope of the present invention is notlimited to the described series of transactions.

While the present invention has been described using a particularcombination of hardware and software, it should be recognized that othercombinations of hardware and software are also within the scope of thepresent invention. For example, the functions performed by the varioussubsystems of remote device 12 and messaging server 18 may be performedby software modules stored in the storage subsystem and executed byprocessors in remote device 12 and messaging server 18, respectively.Alternatively, the present invention may be implemented only in hardwareor only in software, or a combination of hardware and software, or incombinations with other hardware and software elements.

The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in anillustrative rather than a restrictive sense. It will, however, beevident that additions, subtractions, deletions, and other modificationsand changes may be made thereunto without departing from the broaderspirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. In a communication system including a messagingserver and a portable hand held remote device coupled to a telephonenetwork, a method of communication between the remote device and themessaging server, the method comprising:providing a message databaseaccessible to the messaging server for storing electronic messages;establishing an acoustical coupling between the remote device and thetelephone network without requiring a wired connection between theremote device and the telephone network; generating an initial set ofacoustical tones at the remote device corresponding to setup informationto be transmitted to the messaging server; transmitting the initial setof acoustical tones to the messaging server via the acoustical couplingand over the telephone network; receiving the initial set of acousticaltones and converting them to setup information at the messaging server;establishing a session between the remote device and the messagingserver based on the setup information; generating a first set ofacoustical tones at the remote device remote corresponding to a firstset of information to be communicated from the remote device to themessaging server; transmitting the first set of acoustical tones fromthe remote device to the messaging server via the acoustic coupling andover the telephone network; converting the first set of acoustical tonesto the first set of information at the messaging server; performingprocessing at the messaging server based on the first set ofinformation, the processing including performing forward errorcorrection on the first set of information; assembling, at the messagingserver, a second set of information to be communicated to the remotedevice based on the first set of information and the setup information;generating a second set of acoustical tones at the messaging servercorresponding to the second set of information; transmitting the secondset of acoustical tones from the messaging server to the remote deviceover the telephone network; and the remote device receiving the secondset of acoustical tones via the acoustical coupling and converting thesecond set of acoustical tones to the second set of information.
 2. Themethod of claim 1 wherein establishing an acoustical coupling betweenthe remote device and the telephone network comprises:providing a phonecoupled with the telephone network; providing a speaker and a microphonecoupled with the remote device; acoustically coupling the speaker with amouthpiece of the phone; and acoustically coupling the microphone withan earpiece of the phone.
 3. The method according to claim 1 wherein:thesetup information includes remote device identification information; andestablishing the session between the remote device and the messagingserver includes the messaging server performing authentication of theremote device based on the remote device identification information, andestablishing the session between the remote device and the messagingserver if the authentication is successful.
 4. The method of claim 3wherein authentication performed by the messaging servercomprises:maintaining a database containing remote device configurationinformation; and determining if the remote device is authorized toestablish the session with the messaging server by comparing the remotedevice identification information transmitted by the remote device withremote device configuration information stored in the database.
 5. Themethod of claim 1 wherein:the first set of information includes commandrequests; and assembling the second set of information comprisesgenerating command responses to the command requests; and including thecommand responses as part of the second set of information.
 6. Themethod of claim 1 wherein:the first set of information includes remotedevice preference information; and wherein performing processing at themessaging server based on the first set of information comprisesproviding a preferences database for storing preference information forthe remote device, and updating the preference database for the remotedevice based on the remote device preference information contained inthe first set of information.
 7. The method of claim 1 whereinassembling the second set of information comprises:determining a firstelectronic message to be transmitted to the remote device; and includingthe first electronic message as part of the second set of information.8. The method of claim 7 wherein determining the first electronicmessage to be transmitted to the remote device comprises:using theremote device identification information to search the message databaseto identify one or more electronic messages addressed to the remotedevice and which have not yet been transmitted to the remote device;selecting one of the identified electronic messages as the firstelectronic message.
 9. The method of claim 7 furthercomprising:terminating the session between the remote server and themessaging server; determining if the first message was successfullytransmitted to the remote device, and if so updating the messagedatabase to indicate the successful transmission of the first message tothe remote device.
 10. The method of claim 1 wherein the first set ofinformation includes at least one message to be delivered to anaddressee, the method further comprising:determining if the message tobe delivered is a facsimile message; and if the message to be deliveredis a facsimile message; formatting the message into a format compatiblefor faxing; making the formatted facsimile message accessible to afacsimile module, wherein the facsimile module is configured to transmitthe formatted facsimile to the addressee.
 11. The method of claim 1wherein the first set of information includes at least one message to bedelivered to an addressee, the method further comprising:determining atthe messaging server if the message to be delivered is an electronicmail message; and if the message to be delivered is an electronic mailmessage, transmitting the electronic mail message to the addressee. 12.In a communication system including a messaging server and a portablehand held remote device coupled with a telephone network, a method ofcommunication between the remote device and the messaging server, themethod comprising:receiving at the messaging server a message addressedto a user of the remote device; determining the remote device to whichthe message is to be transmitted; processing the message at themessaging server; storing the message in a message database;establishing a communication session between the remote device and themessaging server over the telephone network, wherein the remote deviceis acoustically coupled to the telephone network without requiring awired connection between the remote device and the telephone network;generating acoustical tones at the messaging server corresponding to themessage to be sent to the remote device; communicating the acousticaltones from the messaging server to the remote device over the telephonenetwork via the acoustical coupling; and retrieving the message from theacoustical tones at the remote device.
 13. The method of claim 12wherein determining the remote device to which the message is to betransmitted comprises:maintaining a list of remote devices and theircorresponding users; determining a user to which the message isaddressed, and identifying from the list the remote device correspondingto the user.
 14. The method of claim 12 wherein processing the messageat the messaging server comprises:providing a preference databasestoring a set of preferences for the remote device; and wherein storingthe message in the message database only if the message satisfies theset of preferences.
 15. The method of claim 14 wherein the set ofpreferences comprises filter rules selected from a group of filter rulesincluding of rules based on the addressee field of the message, rulesbased on the sender field of the message, rules based on the title fieldof the message, rules based on the subject contents of the message, andrules based on the size of the message.
 16. A messaging system forcommunicating messaging information comprising:a messaging servercoupled to a telephone network; a hand held remote device acousticallycoupled to the telephone network without requiring a wired connectionbetween the remote device and the telephone network; the remote deviceconfigured to generate an initial set of acoustical tones correspondingto setup information to be transmitted to the messaging server and totransmit the initial set of acoustical tones over the telephone networkvia the acoustic coupling; the remote device further configured togenerate a first set of acoustical tones corresponding to a first set ofinformation to be transmitted to the messaging server, and to transmitthe first set of acoustical tones to the messaging server; the remotedevice further configured to receive a second set of acoustical tonesfrom the messaging server, and to convert the second set of acousticaltones to a second set of information; and wherein the messaging servercomprises:a processor; a memory accessible to the processor, the memoryconfigured to store electronic message; a network interface moduleconfigured to receive the initial set of acoustical tones transmitted bythe remote device, and to convert the initial set of acoustical tones tothe setup information; the network interface module further configuredto receive the first set of acoustical tones transmitted by the remotedevice, and to convert the first set of acoustical tones to the firstset of information; the network interface module further configured togenerate the second set of acoustical tones corresponding to the secondset of information, and to communicate the second set of acousticaltones to the remote device over the telephone network via the acousticalcoupling; an information processing module configured to establish asession between the remote device and the messaging server based on thesetup information transmitted by the remote device; and the informationprocessing module further configured to perform processing based on thefirst set of information and the setup information, to perform forwarderror correction on the first set of information and to determine thesecond set of information to be transmitted to the remote device. 17.The system of claim 16 wherein the remote device further comprises:aspeaker and a microphone configured to acoustically couple the remotedevice with a phone coupled with the telephone network; the speakerconfigured to transmit the initial set and first set of acoustical tonesto the telephone network via the acoustic coupling; and the microphoneconfigured to receive the second set of acoustical tones transmitted bythe messaging server via the acoustic coupling.
 18. The system of claim16 wherein:the setup information includes remote device identificationinformation; and the information processing module is configured toauthenticate the remote device based on the remote device identificationinformation, and to establish the session between the remote device andthe messaging server if authentication is successful.
 19. The system ofclaim 18 wherein:the memory of the messaging server is configured tostore a database containing remote device configuration information; andthe information processing module is configured to authenticate theremote device by comparing the remote device identification informationtransmitted by the remote device with remote device configurationinformation stored in the database.
 20. The system of claim 16wherein:the first set of information includes command requests; and theinformation processing module is further configured to generate commandresponses to the command requests, and to include the command responsesas part of the second set of information.
 21. The system of claim 16wherein:the first set of information includes remote device preferenceinformation; the memory of the messaging server is configured to storepreference information for the remote device; and the informationprocessing module is configured to update the preference information forthe remote device based on the remote device preference informationcontained in the first set of information.
 22. The system of claim 16further wherein the information processing module is further configuredto determine a first electronic message to be transmitted to the remotedevice, and to include the first electronic message as part of thesecond set of information.
 23. The system of claim 22 wherein, in orderto determine the first electronic message to be transmitted to theremote device, the information processing module is further configuredto use the remote device identification information to identify one ormore electronic messages addressed to the remote device and which havenot been transmitted to the remote device, and to select one of theidentified electronic messages as the first electronic message.
 24. Thesystem of claim 22 wherein:the network interface module is furtherconfigured to terminate the session between the remote server and themessaging server, and to determine if the first electronic message wassuccessfully transmitted to the remote device; and the informationprocessing module is further configured to update status of the firstelectronic message in the memory.
 25. The system of claim 16 wherein thefirst set of information includes at least one message to be deliveredto an addressee, and the messaging server further includes:a messagedispatcher module configured to determine if the message to be deliveredis a facsimile message, and to make the message accessible to afacsimile processing module if the message is a facsimile message; andthe facsimile processing module configured to format the message into aformat compatible for faxing, and to make the formatted facsimilemessage accessible to a facsimile module, the facsimile module beingconfigured to fax the formatted message to the addressee.
 26. The systemof claim 16 wherein the first set of information includes at least onemessage to be delivered to an addressee, and the messaging serverfurther includes:a message dispatcher module configured to determine ifthe message to be delivered is an electronic mail message, and toforward the message to a mail processing module if the message is anelectronic mail message; and the mail processing module configured toroute the electronic mail message to the addressee.
 27. A messagingsystem for communicating messaging information comprising:a messagingserver coupled to a telephone network; at least one portable hand heldremote device acoustically coupled to the telephone network withoutrequiring a wired connection between the remote device and the telephonenetwork, the remote device configured to initiate a communicationsession with the messaging server over the telephone network and via theacoustical coupling, and to receive messages from the messaging server;and wherein the messaging server comprises:a processor; a memory coupledwith the processor; a mail processing module configured to receive amessage addressed to a user of the remote device, the mail processingmodule further configured to determine the remote device to which themessage is to be transmitted, the mail processing module furtherconfigured to process the message; and a network interface moduleconfigured to generate acoustical tones corresponding to the message tobe sent to the remote device, and to communicate the acoustical tones tothe remote device over the telephone network via the acoustical couplingduring the communication session between the remote device and themessaging server.
 28. The system of claim 27 wherein in order todetermine the remote device to which the message is to betransmitted:the memory of the messaging server is configured to maintaina list of remote devices and their corresponding users; and the mailprocessing is configured to determine a user to whom the message isaddress, and to determine from the list the remote device correspondingto the user.
 29. The system of claim 27 wherein:the memory of themessaging server is configured to store a preference database storing aset of preferences for the remote device; and the mail processing moduleis configured to accept the message only if the message satisfies theset of preferences.
 30. The system of claim 29 wherein the set ofpreferences comprises filter rules selected from a group of filter rulesconsisting of rules based on the addressee field of the message, rulesbased on the sender field of the message, rules based on the title fieldof the message, rules based on the subject contents of the message, andrules based on the size of the message.
 31. A computer program productfor communicating electronic messages between a messaging server and aportable hand held remote device coupled with a telephone network, theproduct comprising:code for providing a message database accessible tothe messaging server for storing electronic messages; code forestablishing an acoustical coupling between the remote device and thetelephone network without requiring a wired connection between theremote device and the telephone network; code for generating an initialset of acoustical tones at the remote device corresponding to setupinformation to be transmitted to the messaging server; code fortransmitting the initial set of acoustical tones to the messaging servervia the acoustical coupling and over the telephone network; code forreceiving the initial set of acoustical tones and converting them tosetup information at the messaging server; code for establishing asession between the remote device and the messaging server based on thesetup information; code for generating a first set of acoustical tonesat the remote device remote corresponding to a first set of informationto be communicated from the remote device to the messaging server; codefor transmitting the first set of acoustical tones from the remotedevice to the messaging server via the acoustic coupling and over thetelephone network; code for converting the first set of acoustical tonesto the first set of information at the messaging server; code forperforming processing at the messaging server based on the first set ofinformation, the processing including performing forward errorcorrection on the first set of information; code for assembling, at themessaging server, a second set of information to be communicated to theremote device based on the first set of information and the setupinformation; code for generating a second set of acoustical tones at themessaging server corresponding to the second set of information; codefor transmitting the second set of acoustical tones from the messagingserver to the remote device over the telephone network; code forreceiving at the remote device the second set of acoustical tones viathe acoustical coupling and converting the second set of acousticaltones to the second set of information; and a computer-readable storagemedium that stored the codes.
 32. A computer program product forcommunicating electronic messaging information between a messagingserver and a portable hand held remote device coupled with a telephonenetwork, the product comprising:code for receiving at the messagingserver a message addressed to a user of the remote device; code fordetermining the remote device to which the message is to be transmitted;code for processing the message at the messaging server; code forstoring the message in a message database; code for establishing acommunication session between the remote device and the messaging serverover the telephone network, wherein the remote device is acousticallycoupled to the telephone network without requiring a wired connectionbetween the remote device and the telephone network; code for generatingacoustical tones at the messaging server corresponding to the message tobe sent to the remote device; code for communicating the acousticaltones from the messaging server to the remote device over the telephonenetwork via the acoustical coupling; code for retrieving the messagefrom the acoustical tones at the remote device; and a computer-readablestorage medium that stores the codes.